Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, has expressed the company's openness to mergers and acquisitions in a bid to enhance its investment in artificial intelligence (AI).

Apple is stepping up its AI investments and also reallocating employees as it tries to catch up with rivals such as Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft amid growing competition.

The remarks come as Apple continues to be seen as behind the AI race, with its efforts on Apple Intelligence lagging relative to its peers and Meta poaching some of its top engineers. The company is ...